A no-brainer stocked with full measures of breezy scientific gosh-wow.
Ten creatures show off their mental powers in a bid for sapient supremacy. Who will win?
As in Battle of the Butts (2021), also illustrated by Creighton-Pester, Rish invites readers to judge. After wowing them with some head-exploding research, she asks them to decide where each animal belongs on a five-stage scale, from “Basic Brain” to “Incredible Intelligence.” That won’t be an easy task because the exploits—most of which were observed under controlled conditions—range from African grey parrots naming colors and counting up to eight, rats learning how to drive little cars, and a border collie who could identify more than a thousand toys by name to pigs that could spell words like (ironically or otherwise) ham, chimps taught to play Rock-Paper-Scissors, and ravens who can add and compare sums. Humans with an exaggerated opinion of their own mental capacities may be taken down a peg or two by elephants (“Can you identify each of your friends and family members by the sound of their voice? How about by the smell of their pee?”). Smiling animals strutting their stuff in Creighton-Pester’s cartoon illustrations further lighten the informational load, and to counter any suspicions that some of it might be fabricated, the author points to a source list on her website (not there at time of review). So who will win the Coolest Cranium cup? It’s a head-scratcher. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A no-brainer stocked with full measures of breezy scientific gosh-wow. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-7624-7994-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
Another playful imagination-stretcher.
Markle invites children to picture themselves living in the homes of 11 wild animals.
As in previous entries in the series, McWilliam’s illustrations of a diverse cast of young people fancifully imitating wild creatures are paired with close-up photos of each animal in a like natural setting. The left side of one spread includes a photo of a black bear nestling in a cozy winter den, while the right side features an image of a human one cuddled up with a bear. On another spread, opposite a photo of honeybees tending to newly hatched offspring, a human “larva” lounges at ease in a honeycomb cell, game controller in hand, as insect attendants dish up goodies. A child with an eye patch reclines on an orb weaver spider’s web, while another wearing a head scarf constructs a castle in a subterranean chamber with help from mound-building termites. Markle adds simple remarks about each type of den, nest, or burrow and basic facts about its typical residents, then closes with a reassuring reminder to readers that they don’t have to live as animals do, because they will “always live where people live.” A select gallery of traditional homes, from igloo and yurt to mudhif, follows a final view of the young cast waving from a variety of differently styled windows.
Another playful imagination-stretcher. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781339049052
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.
In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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